Wednesday's record heat precursor to winter deep freeze?

hopeforthefuture said on November 10, 2010 at 2:05 PM

angelainbothell ~~~~~~~ Propane generators are much less expensive than gas generators are and propane stores much longer than gas!

plutonomics said on November 7, 2010 at 4:44 PM

@wrsawy... 2WD does not mean stay at home even if you don't have chains. It's called common sense. Here is the most important rule of all when driving in the snow. You follow this rule and 95% of all problems can be avoided. DO NOT LOCK UP YOUR BRAKES. When the front wheels stop spinning you can no longer steer the vehicle, that simple. PUMP THE BRAKES ALWAYS!!!! ANTI LOCK BRAKES WILL NOT WORK IN THE SNOW, IT IS UP TO YOU TO PUMP THE BRAKES TO PREVENT STEERING LOSS. ALSO USE YOUR LOW GEARS WHEN GOING DOWN HILL. You know 1st 2nd 3rd if you driving an automatic, NOT "D" GEAR.... That being said, try to come to a complete stop. Do what you can to keep moving, especially on an up hill. I love the snow and specifically driving in it.

hopeforthefuture said on November 6, 2010 at 12:45 PM

The way I see it is this....The media is really hyping up this winter as being the worst in 55 years which translates to it's being overhyped so it will probably just be a normal winter (no big deal). Also, we just got a wood stove...not for the upcoming bad winter but to cut out our heating bills during all winters! (we can get our wood for free). Also, we are stocked up with food, water, flashlights, candles, blankets, etc., etc, etc....and have a generator on order. So, given the fact that we are so prepared then this winter probably wont be all that bad. Maybe next year? It's supposed to be a nuetral year and those are supposed to be as bad or worse than La Nina years! Either way I truly am hoping for a crazy winter! Just saying that because of the above mentioned media hype and our being so prepared that the odds are against a bad winter (for us anyway!) That's just my luck!

angelainbothell said on November 5, 2010 at 12:57 PM

Canned or other packaged prepared food. Batteries. Blankets and warm clothes. Flashlights, candles, oil lanterns. Firewood if you have a fireplace. Camp stoves. Water. We need to have these things on hand ANYWAY in case of a bad earthquake or other natural disaster. Be prepared now, don't wait. Oh yeah. DON'T try to heat your house or cook indoors with charcoal, or bring your generator indoors out of courtesy to the neighbors because of the noise. Houses here are very tightly sealed. You will die, a very bright cherry red color that will not look good on display in your coffin..

wrsawy said on November 5, 2010 at 4:22 AM

I have a feeling we are in for a lot of snow. Time to jump in my jeep and have some fun baby. Oh, and here are some tips for you Seattle morons that freak out when you see white flakes fall from the sky. 1. If you have a two wheel drive vehicle, stay HOME. If not put on chains. When you crash or stop it holds me up. 2. Drive slow for god sake. Keep a lot of distance from the cars in front and beside you. I know this is hard, people here love tailgate. 3. Be prepared. Dress warm and listen to updates on the radio.

angelainbothell said on November 4, 2010 at 8:44 PM

MrMagoo: That's not helpful. Generators need fuel. Depending on the severity of a weather-related outage, it may not be possible to buy fuel. Remember the big windstorm of 2006? No electricity for 3 days == nobody can pump and sell you gas, even if you have cash on hand to pay for it with and aren't depending on credit or debit cards, which require the use of electricity too. This is not to say, people shouldn't have generators, but a generator won't do you much good if you can't walk safely down the path from your front door, or get stuck in snow, trying to get out of your driveway. It won't help you after 9 or 10pm at night, when anybody with any courtesy at all will turn the generator OFF. Seriously. Simple planning can save a lot of grief. What's so hard about keeping food, candles, batteries & blankets around?

mrmagoo said on November 4, 2010 at 8:27 PM

angelainbothell : just buy a generator allready!!

angelainbothell said on November 4, 2010 at 7:41 PM

The last time I checked, both Costco and McLendons had snowshovels of various sizes and designs in stock. Go buy one, folks, while they still have them in stock. Even if you don't use it this winter, you'll use it another winter. Buy a bag of ice-melt. Get the chains you need now, *before* the snow flies. Have a couple of jugs of water around - 3 gallons per person is what's recommended. Get a camp stove, even if it's just the kind that runs on 1-lb propane cans. Stock up on a few cans of propane. Get a saucepan or two you don't mind getting burn marks from a camp stove. Make sure you have canned foods you can heat and eat (chili, soup, macaroni-based things), pancake mix, and . Keep peanut butter and jam in the house. Stock up on tea light candles (3 or 4 of them on a fire-safe plate (In the kitchen on top of the stove is even safer) will provide a surprising amount of light. Buy an oil lantern and a gallon of oil. Prepare now.

bekind21 said on November 4, 2010 at 5:00 PM

I dread thinking about a harsh winter. Spent a night away in December 2008, and came home to broken pipes (we're on a well) and no water. Several days later we got flooded from the creek right in back of us and had almost 5 feet of water in the yard til it eventually all drained out! Even had a couple of ducks fly in and were floating around out there! My husband was sick and couldn't do the repairs needed and we couldn't afford to hire it out. So for 5 weeks we had no water inside and too much outside!! What a mess we had to clean up afterwards!! Never will forget that winter!! We have a relative in Alaska that makes fun of us here when I tell her one or two inches of snow shut the schools down for the day. Well, we did go out and buy 2 snow shovels - so are "KIND OF" starting to get prepared!!

waituhminute said on November 4, 2010 at 3:14 PM

headed straight into a real weenie shrinker!

aa214 said on November 4, 2010 at 12:14 PM

stryker ..... WELL SAID!!!

cethe said on November 4, 2010 at 9:56 AM

in my 30ish years in seattle it happens every winter after an el nino summer...la nina...and every time it's a pretty wild & hectic winter weather wise. and we (as a city/county) still aren't prepared properly.

cosmo20 said on November 4, 2010 at 9:52 AM

Great the GOP takes control of the House, watch now the Democrats will blame the GOP for global warming.

underserf said on November 4, 2010 at 6:55 AM

YAY, I love this town when Winter makes it grind to a halt :)

stryker said on November 4, 2010 at 6:36 AM

KING 5 Chief Meteorologist Jeff Renner warns that Wednesday's 74 degree high is no definite indication that we'll have a repeat of what happened in the winter of 1949 – 50, but he says it does give you something to think about............................. YEA, A RUM AND COKE IN FRONT OF THE FIRE.